Student Freedom Initiative announced a long-term strategic partnership with Morehouse College and Stats Perform, a global leader in artificial intelligence solutions for the sports industry, to create an “AI in Basketball” course. The partnership aims to offer education about applications of artificial intelligence in sport, provide internships, and expand job opportunities upon graduation for students attending Atlanta University Center Consoritum member institutions.
The for-credit class, which launches this fall on Morehouse’s campus, will welcome students from Morehouse, Spelman College, and Clark Atlanta University who have chosen majors in the areas of math, physics, and engineering.
Dr. Patrick Lucey, chief scientist at Stats Perform, will teach the course working with Morehouse College faculty members. “Stats Perform has been the pioneer of AI in the basketball space for well over a decade, not only with our computer vision systems to collect player and ball tracking data, but also with our predictive models using machine learning,” explains Dr. Lucey. “We are excited to show the students some of the many ways AI can take basketball to new levels for teams, players, media organizations, fans, and others, and see it as the perfect vehicle for students to get a deep understanding on how AI can be used across many fields.”
Employment opportunities will form an important part of the new partnership. Students who complete the AI in Basketball course will be able to apply for a limited number of internships with Stats Perform, with the potential for these internships to transition into full-time employment.
AI and Basketball. Brilliant. It’s a perfect combination like Love and Basketball.
This combination can also be very appealing to college athletes who played basketball. Many of our student/athletes have unrealistic NBA hoop dreams, so an AI course that combines their favorite sport, would be a huge opportunity for them to pursue a more realistic career path.
There’s a tendency to cater to the academically gifted, but we can use opportunities like this can produce other academically gifted students.